John George

ARS Scientist Honored for Research Leadership

By Alfredo Flores
February 9, 2005

National news release

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9— Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist John E. George has received an agency award his research and leadership to further the agency's mission and the needs of those who benefit from the agency's research. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief in-house scientific research agency.

More about research by George's team in Kerrville: 1997 | 2001 | 2002 | 2004 | 2004

The blacklegged tick, above, harbors the microbe that causes Lyme disease. John George and his research team invented the "four-poster" device, which safely delivers a tick-killing acaricide to deer, thus thwarting transmission of the Lyme microbe. Below, ARS employees check a heavily used four-poster in a Maryland suburb. Click the images for more information about them.

George, based in Kerrville, Texas., was recognized today as the agency's "Southern Plains Area Senior Research Scientist of 2004." The area comprises Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico and a research station in Panama.

George's research and leadership have greatly contributed to the development of methods to control blood-feeding flies of cattle. George and other ARS scientists honored at a ceremony here today at USDA headquarters received a plaque, cash award and additional research funding.

As director of the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, George is recognized nationally and internationally for his research. He is an authority on tick biology, behavioral ecology, diagnosis and mitigation of tick resistance to acaricides, and strategies for controlling ticks on livestock and whitetail deer.

Under his guidance and support, George's scientific team has focused on providing effective solutions to problems affecting the livestock industry and public health. George and his team also invented a "four-poster" device which safely treats deer with an effective blacklegged tick-killing acaricide. Placed strategically, four-posters can curb the deer that transmit the microbe that causes Lyme disease.

George earned a B.S. in biology from West Texas University-Canyon in 1957, an M.S. in zoology from Texas Tech University-Lubbock in 1960, and a Ph.D. in entomology from the University of Kansas-Lawrence in 1964. He has authored or co-authored 99 publications and made numerous presentations at national or regional scientific meetings.

Prior to joining ARS in 1979, George served on the faculty of the Institute of International Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Lahore, Pakistan, from 1965 to 1967. He then served as an associate--and later, an assistant--professor at Texas Tech University's Department of Biological Sciences from 1967 to 1978. From 1978 to 1979, he was professor and head of the Department of Biological Sciences, Georgia Southern College-Statesboro.